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Creation and Control Runner Review

Android: Netrunner Creation and Control Review

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released Creation and Control deluxe box. We’ve used a one through five scale; five being the best. The cards are listed in numeric order. Our reviewers are listed in alphabetical order. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!


[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_rielle-kit-peddler-transhuman-creation-and-control.jpg'] Rielle "Kit" Peddler 19 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 5 out of 5
We weren't all sold on the perfect rating on this one. While her ability literally screams at the player to make frequent, successful early game runs, this will only really get you so far. ...With a bit of luck, of course. After that, she’s only going to really save you a few credits by pumping that Gordian Blade up just once per run. Not too shabby, but for sustained effectiveness you might want to look elsewhere.

Hraklea - 5 out of 5
For everybody who complained about me not giving a “5 out of 5” score to any card, this is for you. A free Tinkering every turn is broken, and giving her less 5 influence points won’t take her off the S tier. She’s climbin’ yo servers, hide to kids, hide yo wife!

Scud - 5 out of 5
A true "fast-shaper," Kit forces the Corp to think carefully about how they structure their ICE (which is tough, since they don't have much control over what they draw). Code Gates were already seeing less play (outside of Tollbooth (Core), Pop-up Window (Cyber Exodus), and to a lesser extent, Viper (Cyber Exodus)) due to Yog.0 (Core) being so common and now Corps are going to have to really consider whether or not packing them is worth it – if you have a Code Gate anywhere but in the outermost position on a server, you're enabling Gordian Blade (Core) to make use of its turn-long Strength-boost. Kit can get good use out of a number of cards from this set (Cyber-Cypher (Creation and Control), Escher (Creation and Control), and Same Old Thing (Creation and Control) to recur Tinkering (Core) for late game runs). It will be interesting to see how her version of fast compares and contrasts with Chaos Theory: Wunderkind (Cyber Exodus).

Hats & Suits 4 out of 5
If you like taking advantage of a Corp’s first turn this is simply the best at doing so. Make sure to stack some Maker’s Eyes and a good old Gordian Blade or your shiney new Cyber-Cypher for this one. The other writers have covered most of the obvious combos but... Kit along with Noise I find are the most “opportunistic” agenda stealers and may actually make a card like Kraken worth putting in your deck. The less ICE you have to deal with the better with this one. I only take a single point off for two reasons; You are going to have to stay mostly in faction with only 10 influence points, and if you encounter a Code Gate first thing on your runs this ability is wasted. But otherwise I really enjoy Kit and look forward to many interesting ways of playing with this ID.[/CRB]

[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_the-professor-creation-and-control.jpg'] The Professor 13 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
The potential for some seriously brutal rogue decks lies in this new identity. This future sleeper hit is more than likely going to be the new top-tier runner for Shapers in the very near future. But as this is just an educated guess, he couldn’t score higher than a 3... for now...

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
This identity is fine. It fits the Shaper theme properly, but maybe it was too soon to release him. There was a report of a guy winning a championship in Nashville using this, but I doubt The Professor will have his place at the GenCon top 8 this year. Maybe in 2014.

Scud - 3 out of 5
The Professor has a lot of potential. He can run one of every good program from every faction: Medium (Core), Imp (What Lies Ahead), Sneakdoor Beta (Core), Faerie (Future Proof), etc. by mixing and matching the accompanying Event cards, you can build some very different decks just from this one ID. The trick is in having the discipline to build a deck that isn't just, "Squee, I'm a'gonna take one'a everything and mash it all up!"

Hats & Suits 4 out of 5
This one is hard to rate because we are always going to get new Programs as long as A:NR is being made. This one really depends on what cards you have in your deck, and that will change from one person to another. If you are looking to confuse players in a Tournament this is a decent card to hide your playstyle. Professor works well because you can choose a Shaper point of reference and then build outward with other programs. So as long as Shaper still puts in some nice Hardware and Resources you should be able to fill that MU up with combo programs I can’t even imagine yet. When in doubt about programs, use this card as a base and see what works.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_exile-creation-and-control.jpg'] Exile 12 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
Exile is neat. As it stands, his effectiveness is based mainly around other cards released in this set which is kind of a bummer. That being said, card drawing sans clicks is pretty amazing. Thing is, you kind of want to make sure you are actually in need of a draw when his ability is activated, otherwise, it can be a pretty big bust.

Hraklea - 4 out of 5
This guy is cool. He can use cloud programs easily, and drawing cards as an ability can’t be bad. We don’t have enough cards that synergizes with him, but we didn’t have enough “transaction” operation cards when the Core Set came out, and now we do. I’m excited to see Exile at his full potential.

Scud - 3 out of 5
Neat ability, but like The Professor (Creation and Control), you can't get caught up in using his ability just to use his ability. He works really well with several of the cards in this set (Clone Chip (Creation and Control), Freelance Coding Contract (Creation and Control), Scavenge (Creation and Control)) as well as Test Run (Cyber Exodus). You'll probaby want an Event-heavy deck so that you're drawing cards to make use of the Programs you install.

Hats & Suits - 2 out of 5
Most of the time you will have to build a deck specifically for this ID, namely something that allows you to trash and reclaim install cards easily. Right now there only a few cards that allow you to install from the heap, and please note that items like Self Modifying code only allow to take from your deck, and Deja Vu only allows you to put cards into your grip. (Both still may be nice to have for reclaiming lost or needed programs) Clone chip is pretty much and auto include for a deck, and Scavange is nice if you have “tier” based Icebreakers or Programs you want with a discount. (Ex. Femme Fatal for Pipeline or something like that sort.) Right now I am not sure I could make a decent deck with this, but I am open to ideas. However for tournament play, I feel this may be a bit too much building to really earn you enough points and keep momentum to keep up with a corp.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_escher-creation-and-control.jpg'] Escher 15 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 4 out of 5
Escher seems to be built for Kit from the ground up. Locking R&D is the first thing that came to our minds as Shapers are quite proficient at that. This card not only sets the board position in your favour but it also severely disrupts your opponent's game plan making it a double whammy. *Sigh* We’ll be seeing a lot of this thing.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
I know it can win the game for you, but I’m not sure it can save you from losing. It seems one of those card that makes you “win more”, you know? There are people who support the idea that winning more is good on Android: Netrunner, but I’m not convinced yet.

Scud - 5 out of 5
While the card is obviously great for Kit, all Shapers can get some really good use out of it - just make sure to pack a Battering Ram (Core) or a Gordian Blade (Core) then shuffle the ICE so you have several Barriers or Code Gates to blow through. This card is a game changer for Shapers and can be useful early or late game to allow for an lockdown of R&D or a switch from hitting Centrals to a now less well-defended remote.

Hats & Suits 3 out of 5
A situational card that can allow for the Corp to reconsider their current play style. Having tried this out a few time I find it very hard to master this card. As it doesn’t get rid of any ICE, and depending on Corp can make some pretty horrible combos you never saw coming. I feel that this will hold up the game for a while, and then result in many corps attempting to reinstall and trash ICE, and could open the way to a victory if played very carefully. When using stuff like Yog.0 or when a corp is heavily dependent on cards like Sensei this card will work wonders. However this may just allow you to screw yourself by making an ultra server too. Try it out for a while before seeing if it fits in your deck, and remember it may help for only a few turns so you better make them count.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_exploratory-romp-creation-and-control.jpg'] Exploratory Romp 4 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 1 out of 5
Cool art. ...That’s about it. We feel we’re missing something here. Why not just access the card instead? Why not infiltrate it to make sure you’re not going to get burned? What is going on here? Scud? Throw us a bone man!

Hraklea - 1 out of 5
What the hell is this?! The card is already bad enough, and they make it cost TWO influence points? I can’t even use this for jokes on my Anarch deck, for god sake! I… I don’t want to talk about this s***. Next!

Scud - 1 out of 5
I tried to give this a two. I mean, look at that art. I love me some whimsy. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good reason to give this poor girl an extra point. You can use her depower a Salvage (Humanity's Shadow) or something. In all seriousness, though, it's biggest strength seems to be disarming advanceable traps and/or tanking Trick of Light (Trace Amount) sources (since depowering advancable ICE requires you to break said ICE before depowering it and is, therefore, not a good use of the card). As Jinteki gets better and better, this card will, too, but for now, just hit that double advanced Project Junebug (Core) and be done with it.

Hats & Suits 1 out of 5
This card has its place somewhere against certain corps. When and if more options for server jumping start coming out.. this will really get interesting. In theory you may hit a server and remove some chunks from an Icewall or other Advanceable Ice, or disarm a Ronin or advanceable trap before using Doppelganger and sneaking a peek at what you just disarmed. Honestly this card is for people who don’t use the Expose ability or can’t afford to have it in their deck, but are also aware of Junebugs and Cerebral Overwriters. My issue with it is that you still have stuff like Infiltrations which are free, so unless you are preventing a Trick of Light then this is fairly useless. Far to conditional, and doesn’t have a place in the game just yet.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_freelance-coding-contract-creation-and-control.jpg'] Freelance Coding Contract 13 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
A great compliment to Quality Time, or to a lesser extent, Diesel. A nice low splash means that we’ll all be seeing some out of faction play with this little gem. Dumping those unwanted doubles of programs you already have out will be a boon for some. Exile will enjoy this event to be certain. Cards like this get our creative juices flowing.

Hraklea - 4 out of 5
Wait, wait, wait… This cost as much as Easy Mark - no credits and 1 influence point - but gives you 10 credits rather than 3? And brings another possible runner in its flavor text? Geez, I loved it. This is goodl not only with Exile, but in any deck that runs too many copies of the same programs.

Scud - 3 out of 5
A neat little card, especially in Program-heavy decks, which I am hoping will become more and more a thing as the card pool grows. If you have any Program recursion, you can use this card early to jump start your economy. If you don't pack much recursion, this card can help in the late game, letting you make use of those duplicate 'breakers.

Hats & Suits 3 out of 5
Not a bad little card for both Professor and Exile, and anything that gets away from the idea of only having Crypis as your ICEbreaker is a plus in my book. (Efficiency be damned!) Mind you if you are trashing things that will be trashed anyways it may be a bit of a waste, but if using loads of ICEbreakers this isn’t so bad. Splash cost is pretty awesome as well, except that with Anarchs or Criminals you are less likely to have programs cluttering your hand that you don’t want to use as well. My feelings are pretty neutral on this one, but hopeful.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_scavenge-creation-and-control.jpg'] Scavenge 14 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 4 out of 5
Pair with Exile to possibly install your new and improved program over an obsolete one and draw a card! Yay! But Exile won’t be the only identity using Scavenge. This is a cost effective way to cycle any outdated program in play and will be used extensively by many players.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
The Corp trashed a Femme Fatale’d piece of ice? Problem solved. No credits to play your Femme Fatale? Problem solved. Sacrificial Construct was too bad for you? Problem solved. This is perfect for all those people running Déjà Vu because they were scared about Aggressive Secretary.

Scud - 4 out of 5
Lots of cool little interactions, like trashing a Program you've just Test Run (Cyber Exodus) to install itself so that it won't go to the top of your stack at the end of the turn or retargetting Femme Fatale (Core) by trashing her and immediately reinstalling her. Program-heavy decks will like it, too, like, say, Noise Virus Mill?

Hats & Suits 3 out of 5
Another card more likely to be very useful later on. I love the feel of it, but unless you are really stacking your deck for different “Tiered” programs you may not have much use for this. It is nice if you have some old programs sitting around you don’t want anymore though. Great for recovery and with Exile, but you may not see this one out of faction much. But I know some days it is better to have another Parasite out than another Djinn in hand.

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_levy-ar-lab-access-creation-and-control.jpg'] Levy AR Lab Access 12 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
If you are like me, (Corps3mourn) and are an aggressive card drawer, you’ve finished your fair share of games without anything in your Stack. This can be a problem if you don’t have any permanent money makers or you’re sitting across the table from a Jenteki player. Well, fret no more! Levy AR is the cure to what ails you. A fresh start will have any corp player spinning in their future graves.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
I know this was broken in Magic: the Gathering, but I don’t see room for a card like this in Android: Netrunner. How often you get hit by Data Hound to care about this card? If you run out of stack too often, it is not “your playstyle”, it is a weaknesses. You need to stop drawing for no reason.

Scud - 3 out of 5
This card wants to live in a deck with a good number of installable cards so that, when you reset, you're mostly getting back useful Events or one-shot Programs. You could try to go the other way, packing very few Programs/Resources and just piling on the Events, trying to burn through your deck, and get the same results. Conceiveably, you could even cycle through a Program-heavy deck using Freelance Coding Contract (Creation and Control), then get all your stuff back, too. These decks might be too slow, though. Regardless, the ability to get extra use out of high-Influence cards (like Account Siphon (Core), for example) can be pretty powerful.

Hats & Suits 4 out of 5
You know how it feels to be Flatlined because you were afraid to run and take damage? Well this is a decent response to that playstyle. Somedays it is just better to take the hits and break through ICE and let your cards hit the heap. Also this is good if you need to get through your deck quickly and put down certain resources or programs that may only last a short time. I wouldn’t play this out of Faction as you will need to use your Quality Time and Diesel cards to make this work well. (As well as Professional Contacts.) But really shift your deck focus to doing things quickly. Rabbit Holes,
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_monolith-creation-and-control.jpg'] Monolith 6 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 1 out of 5
Effectively using this would mean you’re having a really good turn... but that won’t be happening often enough to justify adding this beast to any of our decks. Monolith cries out to be a surprise that you spring on the corp to get your rig established in one fell swoop, and it can be done. However, to do it effectively means that you’ll want to be sitting on around 30 credits. For a Shaper, that’s a lot of dough. To those who wish to prove us wrong, good luck and godspeed.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
If you have 18 credits, why the heck you’re not running? You’re a NetRUNNER, do your job! Now, seriously, the credit advantage of this card is amazing, it gives you 3 memory units, 3 installs, 12 credits and a brain damage defense in the same click. But 18 credits? I pass.

Scud - 2 out of 5
Okay, look, this Console isn't as bad as it seems. It requires a deck built around it, but if you can find that sweet spot of card draw and economy (why hello, Professional Contacts (Creation and Control)), you might overcome the Shaper weakness of the slow build. Personal Workshop (Cyber Exodus) and Stimhack (Core) plus a little extra cash can let you drop your Consle AND three Programs mid-run. I think being picky about what Programs you drop for "free" is a hang-up you'll need to get over – drop what you have. I think it'll be The Professor (Creation and Control) that finds figures out the best use of this card.

Hats & Suits 1 out of 5
High cost, late game, and fairly situational. This isn’t bad for loads of programs and preventing damage without a Netshield or Carapace, but to build a deck to use this effectively you need to combo it with Professional Contacts, Public Sympathy, and at least one Levy Access. Decent for Professors looking to take on Jinteki or HB and just run through damage, and that is about it.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_feedback-filter-creation-and-control.jpg'] Feedback Filter 9 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
Pretty straightforward. Damage prevention in hardware form. Take it or leave it.

Hraklea - 1 out of 5
Great, for 9 credits, you can go throught a Neural Katana without a killer! Yay! But no. I rather run Net Shield over this. Next!

Scud - 3 out of 5
In the Tech Talk article on Net Shield (Core), I said, "Some people would run it (Net Shield) if it let you cancel multiple points of Net Damage at 3 credits per point." Well, here it is. The Powers That Be set it at the same cost as Net Shield. They also went ahead and made it Hardware, avoiding MU, and gave it a one-shot Brain damage prevention ability, all for the downside that it can't be directly tutored for (although multiple copies aren't COMPLETELY useless if Brain damage becomes the new black, as they say, so Replicator (Humanity's Shadow) is an option). Pretty nifty IF you're looking for damage prevention.

Hats & Suits 2 out of 5
Well at least I don’t need to build a hand before running if my credits are abundant. Fairly nice late game when you just want to run through damage, though with Femme it is only 3 credits to break Neural Katana. I would use this more as a deterrent for Ronin, and see how Jinteki players change their playstyle. May be nice, but also a tad too expensive for the net damage in the long run in a short game, but nice for that brain protection for only 2 credits.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_clone-chip-creation-and-control.jpg'] Clone Chip 14 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
Great for getting back that piece of rig that gets trashed or putting Exile’s draw mechanic to work. Either way, not a bad support card for those who value contingency plans.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
Installing programs during a run is one of the best things you want from a card. It costs 1 credit and 2 influence points, so it is very cheap for what it does. Even if you’re not a Shaper player, keep an eye on this.

Scud - 4 out of 5
On the fly installation of Programs from your heap for 1 extra credit above the install cost? Yes, please. Reusing Fearie (Future Proof) or Crescentus (A Study In Static) right when you need it. Pulling Viruses out of the Heap just before acessing Archives as Noise. Not to mention the safety net for losing a key piece of your rig to an Archer (Core) or other Program-trasher. This is a very, very good card, borderline five rating.

Hats & Suits 4 out of 5
I love pulling a program out of the trash. Can also be used for a free install in the middle of a run or maybe pull a surprise program for future expansions which may allow you to access cards differently or pull out a Paricia if you need to trash a card in a hurry. Of course combos with Professor/monolith and Exile well, and of course using Levy Access give you this card even more times to use during a game. Shaper is going to want to start going through their deck quickly if they are playing with a Trashing strategy, and this is a great card to facilitate that play style.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_omni-drive-creation-and-control.jpg'] Omni-drive 13 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
If used often enough, this card will sing for you... after you’ve used it five times. Anything beyond that is money in the bank. For those who love to build a robust rig, this hardware is right up your alley. For those who run light, this card will generally be overlooked.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
Honestly, not a big fan. It has combo potential, but so does Cyberfeeder, and it isn’t that good either. The free memory is cool, so this is basically a “mini Dinosaurus” for Shaper decks that play Desperado or Spinal Modem. Cool, fun, but not that good.

Scud - 3 out of 5
In theory, this is a pretty nice card. However, the timing issues (having to get it out before you install the Program you want to host on it), keeps it from being a four. With the number of ways to uninstall and reinstall programs, though, it isn't enough to knock it lower than three. Djinn (Core) and Femme Fatale (Core) are probably my favorite Programs to host, using the recurring credit on their special abilities.

Hats & Suits 4 out of 5
Combos well with replicator first of all. However the splash cost is going to hinder use in out of faction decks

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_atman-creation-and-control.jpg'] Atman 9 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 2 out of 5
In order to use this ICE breaker effectively, you will need to either modify its strength, or modify the strength of the ICE you’re facing. Breaking through everything with one breaker is a coveted ability, but accomplishing that with this card will require some serious forethought.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
For me, this is the overrated card of the expansion. I must be doing something really wrong with my Datasucker not to understand how this card is broken. It is good, but it’s influence cost is a little heavy to be strong as out of faction, and Shaper runners don’t really need an AI program.

Scud - 4 out of 5
With the number of ways to install Programs mid-run now, Atman is going to be a pretty effective silver bullet. And don't forget about good ol' Datasucker (Core), letting you drop high-strength ICE into breaking range. Also, Scavenge (Creation and Control) will let you reset Atman's strength and Escher (Creation and Control) gives you control over which ICE is grouped together, letting you possibly homogenize the Strength on a given server.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_cloak-creation-and-control.jpg'] Cloak 7 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
While markedly more useful than its counterpart, Dagger, this program will slightly ease the burden of aggressive running. Taking up a memory slot helps to balance it out but we feel it could have done better as a piece of hardware.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
I’m sorry, I have no idea on how the other stealth cards are going to be, so giving this anything higher than C tier would be irresponsible. By now, it is just a good card among the bad ones.

Scud - 2 out of 5
It requires 1MU. Until there are more Stealth 'breakers, this guy is probably not worth it. The fact that Cloak and Dagger (Creation and Control) together are a pretty good in-Faction Killer option for Shaper is the only thing that bumps it to a two. Having to get two Cloaks (if you want to be safe) in addition to a Dagger into play makes it hard to set-up but the payoff is decent.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_dagger-creation-and-control.jpg'] Dagger 6 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 2 out of 5
What an odd duck. Super efficient, even more so than Ninja, but only when paired with Cloak. This is a draw gamble that some will be willing to take, but all in all, the prerequisite of use leaves this card in a less than desirable position with the Bad Publicity gang.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
Again, no idea about the viability of a stealth based deck, but this looks good, considering that Shaper runners are known for having the worst killer programs in the game. I’m honestly afraid about how their decoder program is going to be.

Scud - 2 out of 5
If you have a Cloak or two (not to mention the free 2-3 MU), this is a pretty nice Killer. That is a whole bucket-load of IF, though. I'll stick to spending some Influence to get a decent Killer in my Shaper decks.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_chakana-creation-and-control.jpg'] Chakana 6 out of 20

Bad Publicity - 2 out of 5
For the Timmy players out there who love to control the flow of a game, this card will make their deck that much more aggravating. Lots of decks, (shell game included) usually depend on throwing down 3 point agendas and scoring them the very next turn. Well, this card takes the wind out of their sails real ricky-tick.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
I can see this being a problem allied with The Source, but in general, it is not that good, and Shaper runners don’t have enough virus programs to justify Surge in Shaper decks. I have to admit that I overhyped about this card. Shame on me.

Scud - 2 out of 5
I was tempted to give this a one rating, but forcing the Corp to Virus purge every once in a while is worth the extra point. Like Deep Thought (Future Proof), you want to make Chakana your only Virus so that the Corp gets the least amount of utility out of a Virus purge. It's too bad, really – I was really looking forward to playing this card just so I could yell, "Chaka Kahn!" every time I installed it...

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_cyber-cypher-creation-and-control.jpg'] Cyber-Cypher 10 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
Tailor made for Kit, this flying bird-dogger will allow you to keep your wallet in-pocket early game. The downside of only being useful in one server isn’t too much of an issue if you are planning around an R&D lock. Not a bad program at all. We’re confident we’ll see it around the circuit.

Hraklea - 4 out of 5
I have to say, I love how creative Fantasy Flight Games is about creating icebreakers. Faerie was already cool, but this? This is evil, and I surely don’t want to meet one of these against me. My only complaint is the art. It has style, but it is so ugly…

Scud - 3 out of 5
Solid, solid card. R&D locking is the obvious use, but, again, with so many ways to uninstall/reinstall cards now, retargeting a Cyber-Cypher isn't that big a deal, although with Tinkering (Core) and Escher (Creation and Control), you can get a lot of use out of this puppy (with wings!). Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman (Creation and Control) will want two of these, maybe three. I'm liking the empahsis on multiple Programs we're starting to see emerge.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_paricia-creation-and-control.jpg'] Paricia 5 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 2 out of 5
The bane of an asset driven economy, Paricia big blue birds its way straight into mediocrity for us. An R&D locking gameplan will benefit from this program as well but only in the interest to adding insult to injury. We feel it is not necessary, but it will see some use.

Hraklea - 1 out of 5
Dear lord, more crap. If you used to spent influence on Scrubber, now you’re saved! But sadly, it will cost you memory. And it won’t trash upgrades. What a waste of paper.

Scud - 2 out of 5
Very niche. The need to have two (or three) of these out in order to really capitalize on their ability, and therefore spend 2-3 MU, makes using this card really depend on your local scene.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_self-modifying-code-creation-and-control.jpg'] Self-Modifying Code out of 15

Bad Publicity - 5 out of 5
One credit cheaper to execute than Test Run, but doesn’t get you into your heap. I don’t want to meta this card to death just yet as it may see a head to head video of its own one day. Suffice to say that it is a tutor (search) card that has the same function as Test Run does, but it is different enough in its execution that it will not render its predecessor obsolete. Great addition to the Shaper library though.

Hraklea - 4 out of 5
Being able to install programs in the middle of a run makes any runner godlike. This costs as much influence as Test Run, so it will be on Anarch decks too. I couldn’t care less about its memory cost.

Scud - 5 out of 5
You can fetch things mid-run for a minimum of up-front investment and just a slight bump in install cost. It has a little less wiggle room than Test Run (Cyber Exodus) since the card you tutor has to be in your Stack (if you draw the card you want to Test Run, you can always overdraw to throw it in your Heap). That downside is tiny in comparison to the ability to have (and pay for) only the right tool at the right time. The two MU cost can make it tough to use later in the game, so pack some extra memory, kids.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_sahasrara-creation-and-control.jpg'] Sahasrara 8 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
This little fella will aid in rig construction to a point, keeping costs down so you can focus your economy on running. It’s a counterpart to Modded that will get a great deal of play time for those that cycle programs on the regular. (Aesop’s and the Professor come to mind)

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
This is cool, but I’m not as hyped as other Anarch players seem to be. This is useful and can be Aesop’s Pawnshop’ed after its job is done, but it is not really versatile, and it memory cost is a problem as its goal it to play programs.

Scud - 2 out of 5
This is a good card (especially out-of-faction in a Noise: Hacker Extrordinaire (Core) Virus Mill deck), but it's MU requirement means you want to see this card in the early game. Once you get several pieces of your rig in place, this becomes a dead card. Unless, of course, you pack a ton of extra memory. It has it's place, but it isn't a must-have.

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_inti-creation-and-control.jpg'] Inti 4 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 1 out of 5
As things stand, there are quite a few barrier breakers that we would choose over Inti. Not too much else to be said. Maybe future releases will make this guy a bit more common sight.

Hraklea - 1 out of 5
I’m not really sure why so many Shaper players are using this instead Snowball. What am I missing? Are you really saying that playing an icebreaker for free is worth to pay 5 credits to break a Wall of Static?

Scud - 2 out of 5
The Pipeline (Core) of Fracters, Inti at least costs less. Paired with Escher (Creation and Control) (or just a Barrier-happy Corp player), Inti can actually be not so bad, since it's Strength boost lasts the whole run.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_professional-contacts-creation-and-control.jpg'] Professional Contacts 8 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
If you find yourself in a position comfortable enough to play this, you’ll be sittin’ pretty for the remainder of the game. (or until you’re tagged) After its 4th use, you’ve paid for it and then some, and in the process you’ve advanced your board position to a distinctive advantage. A nice low splash means this card will be utilized out of faction on the regular.

Hraklea - 1 out of 5
I really liked this card when I saw it. It basically meant that, everytime I wanted to draw a card, I would get a credit. But what it actually means is that, everytime I want a credit, I will draw a card that might be discarded in the end of my turn. For 5 credits? I rather play Mr. Li.

Scud - 4 out of 5
You get paid for drawing! In the right deck, this card is a beast, allowing you to dig for the cards you need and still make some money with which to install/use them. Diesel (Core) and Quality Time (Humanity's Shadow) are both good draw sources IF you want a bunch of cards RIGHT NOW (and want to pay for the opportunity, in the case of QT). The flexibility that Professional Contacts gives you shouldn't be underestimated, and a lot of people are doing just that. Don't buy the anti-hype.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_borrowed-satellite-creation-and-control.jpg'] Borrowed Satellite 6 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 2 out of 5
This resource fills a niche role on the Netrunner battlefield. Link and an increased hand size are not typical things that runners are after. But for the player that likes to build the rig to stop all, Borrowed Satellite might find a cozy home in a deck or two.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
I think I like this card because my first deck used Wyldside and ZU.13 Key Master. I like to see potential on Borrowed Satellite, but costing 2 influence points hurts it too much. I still don’t want to accept that, but everything suggest that this card sucks.

Scud - 2 out of 5
There will be times when you're building a deck and think, "Man, if I could just fit Public Symapthy (Cyber Exodus) AND Access to Globalsec (Core) in here!" Then you'll remember the three copies of Borrowed Satellite you got in this set and you'll be happy. In all seriousness, if you want to use Underworld Contact (A Study in Static) but don't care about extra MU, you can use this instead of Dyson Mem Chip (Trace Amount) (unless you want to go bargain basement and just use Access to Globalsec, that is).
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_ice-analyzer-creation-and-control.jpg'] Ice Analyzer 5 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 1 out of 5
An economy card that will only help upon condition... Not exactly gold in this wonderful game. I guess if a player really doesn’t want to use any credits mid to late game on installing that final program, then ICE Analyzer is an option. But for us, it seems like a waste of a card slot as things stand.

Hraklea - 2 out of 5
With Emergency Shutdown, maybe this can work. The problem is that this is pure garbage if it doesn’t come in your opening hand. I’d take a deeper look at this if I were an Andromeda player, but only in that case.

Scud - 2 out of 5
This is one of the cards from the set that I am most unsure of. If you're installing a lot of Programs, you probably aren't running all that much, so a lot of ICE isn't getting rezzed (although Oversight AI (A Study in Static) and Biroid Efficiency Research (Creation and Control) will probably be popular for a while). On the other hand, all the ways to install stuff mid-run now could make ICE Analyzer a solid economy card for Program-heavy decks.

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_dirty-laundry-creation-and-control.jpg'] Dirty Laundry 10 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
In a deck that has no draw problems, this card is amazing. Who doesn’t want a nice credit bump to reward a successful dash at the corp?

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
An Easy Mark that costs me no influence point and no click? With a hot girl drawn on it? What else could I want? I know, I don’t want runners using this against me! Get off my servers!

Scud - 4 out of 5
You get paid to run! Okay, it isn't always going to be that simple, but if you have other ways to benefit from a cheap run (Desperado (Core), Bank Job (Core), Datasucker (Core), etc.), this card can help you pull double (or triple) duty with just one click.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_daily-casts-creation-and-control.jpg'] Daily Casts 12 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 4 out of 5
A mix between Pad Campaign and Armitage, this is an economy card that will see heavy use. We have already planned to swap it in place of Armatage in any decks that still contain them. Trickle credits usually beat out click for credits any day of the week, granting Daily Casts a clean rating of 4 out of 5.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
As a Wyld/Shop player, I loooved this card. It is good to have a new way to get credits without spending clicks. But I think that other decks, that are not that “click intensive” as mine, won’t be using Daily Casts that often.

Scud - 5 out of 5
Drip economy that has no additional requirements, just plug and play. This is going to become a staple card in almost all Runner decks.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_same-old-thing-creation-and-control.jpg'] Same Old Thing 10 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 2 out of 5
We were torn on this card. It really wants to be a 3 out of 5, but as the current card pool stands, the events that Same Old Thing would regurgitate are few and far between. Let it be said that Bad Publicity’s members differed on the rating here and that this card will more than likely get a lot of runners out of a lot of sticky situations. (pssssst... it’s a 3)

Hraklea - 4 out of 5
You probably lost the count of how many times you heard someone saying that this will allow you to use 6 copies of Account Siphon in the same match. But what can I do if that’s true?

Scud - 4 out of 5
With Same Old Thing, you can turn one great out-of-faction Event card into four copies without using any extra Influence. It is especially good for recurring Run Events like Maker's Eye (Core) or Account Siphon (Core) since then it really only costs you one extra click (the second click is a modified run). Decks that packs powerful Events are gonna love this card. It is a Resource, so tags become important, but I think that's a good thing for the game.

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/an/med_the-source-creation-and-control.jpg'] The Source 9 out of 15

Bad Publicity - 3 out of 5
The first neutral card with a splash value. Unique, and for good reasons in the interest of game balance. We feel that the upsides dramatically outweigh the downsides to this masterpiece, as you will effectively be shutting down fast advance in a big way, lending to predictability. We can’t wait to see how the use of this card will change the game’s meta over the next few months.

Hraklea - 3 out of 5
I like the idea of a neutral card that is so broken that it costs influence points for all factions. But I don’t think that’s the case for The Source. It could cost only 1 point. Maybe I need to face more fast advance deck.

Scud - 3 out of 5
This card is strong for decks that need to set-up (which isn't particularly Shapers anymore): Noise Virus Mill (not set-up, really, but he needs time to mill stuff), Whizzard/Andy Resource Denial decks, etc. If you can hit the ground running, though (pun intended), the The Source will actually be more of a hinderance than a boon. Combining The Source with Imp to trash Agendas instead of stealing them is fun though, and since you access cards one at a time out of Archives, The Source will get trashed after you pay to steal the first Agenda.
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52 Comments

After the Omni-Drive I'm missing input from Hats & Suits for the rest of the cards. Scores are also wonky from thereon.
    • Paddosan, Icedman and MrLordcaptain like this
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MrLordcaptain
Aug 25 2013 11:56 AM
Exploratory romp... minimal points. Is this a first?
I was about to ask what happened, as going from scores out of 20 to scores out of 15 looks weird.

Scud's text for The Source is missing too - I doubt he gave it a score without a reason.
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kingofslivers
Aug 25 2013 01:21 PM
I couldn´t dissagree more with Hraklea in his review of Professional Contacts.
I quote:"everytime I wanted to draw a card, I would get a credit". Excuse me, but if you want a credit and don't need to draw, it is as simple as use a normal action to spend a click and get a credit. I think the card deserves a 3 minimum, maybe a 4 out of 5.
    • ringworm, Icedman, wrenhong and 2 others like this
@NuFenix: Actually, it was my fault. I had written comments for The Source, tested it some more, changed my thoughts, deleted my comments and then never got around to rewriting. I've added comments to the article, though. Thanks for pointing it out.
@kingofslivers: I agree that Professional Contacts is a beast. I'd go so far as to say that it is possibly the best card of the set. There are a LOT of powerful Runner cards but Professional Contacts is universally useful. After playing with it, you will never, ever want to use the basic draw action again. Every time I have to draw without getting a credit (or using a more efficient draw card like Diesel or Quality Time), I want to punch my deck in the face.
    • wrenhong likes this
Did you really play with some of the cards before reviewing them? I find myself disagreeing with almost everything.
I did. However, these reviews were done a couple of weeks ago so I would definitely revise some of my ratings. I would drop Kit to a four, Freelance Coding Contract to a two, Omni-Drive to a two, and Dirty Laundry to a three. I would bump Sahasrara up to a three. That's just off the top of my head. However, the numerical ratings are less important (IMHO) then the reason given.

What do you disagree with, Wolfone88?

What do you disagree with, Wolfone88?


Dunno what Wolf disagrees with, but here's my list (and quick thoughts) :

- Atman and Self-Modifying Code are most definitely both fives, for one simple reason: if the Corp deck isn't built with their existence in mind, it won't be able to do jack squat. Try to play against Atman with a pretty standard pre-C&C Jinteki decklist and suffer through living hell (Katana, Snowflake, Wall of Static, Caduceus all broken by the same breaker? Chum broken too, once a single Datasucker hits the table?). SMC is a similar case, completely breaking the most common use-cases of certain ICE (Enigma, Katana) and totally wallpapering others (like, for instance, Chimera). Sure, the runner must build with its strengths in mind (like, splashing Mimic for 1 influence), but it's completely atrocious to play against... and the synnergy with Stimhack makes this thing outrageous

- Clone Chip: completely outrageous with both Parasite&Imp and Self-Modifying Code. Also, given the current runners' extremely strong economy, pretty much voids Aggressive Secretary's ability to create an agenda-scoring window. Those two things alone make it a 4 at the very least

- Chakana: should have been a red card, but still much better than you give it credit to. Gives Noise the on-demand ability to just stop the Corp from scoring for at least a turn: Tutor Chakana with Djinn, play Chakana with Grimoire out, Surge. Now they either have to purge, or they have to telegraph pretty much any agenda from miles away (also costing them more money). Sure, it needs setup to make it work, but if you rate The Source a 3, I really don't see how you could rate this lower. More setup, less drawback, about same level of permanence.

- Professional Contacts: meh, not even going to waste breath here. Build a deck, play with it. There's very few decks that this card doesn't make better (stuff running two/three Wyldsides is pretty much the only examples I can think of)

- Dirty Laundry: if you plan on running at all (which you should, since you're, you know, a runner), this is essentially a second copy of Sure Gamble. Surely Sure Gamble, which everyone plays 3 of, is more than 10/15?

- Same Old Thing: reading the rating on this, I couldn't believe my eyes about how shortsighted the guys from Bad Publicity are in this instance (almost brings to mind their initial review of Kati Jones... lol). Seriously, this card enables just so many nasty things. Six Siphons are just the tip of the iceberg. Hell, I'm using this to great effect in Kit, to effectively play six Tinkerings. If I don't need them, an on-demand Indexing is also a pretty awesome thing. It's also really good as an effective influence multiplier, trading in-game limited resources (clicks) for deckbuilding limited resources (influence). Also really enables AR Lab Access (more on that just below)

- Levy AR Lab Access: the most mis-rated card of this article, bar none. If you're packing one of this and two of Same Old Thing (which you really should anyway, unless you're playing a completely event-free deck), you're immune to death by attrition, which takes away at least 30% of Jinteki's scariness (a flatline is much harder to achieve if the runner doesn't play stupid and isn't in any danger of running out of cards in their deck). It also gives a completely event-based economy a solid late-game, lets you abuse things like Freelance Coding Contracts, and much more. Hell, even if you play it after you have a crappy hand and 2 inside jobs in your heap, that alone makes it worth it. Seriously, play with it and see for yourself... I know one thing: a "2 out of 5", this ain't.
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MrLordcaptain
Aug 25 2013 08:16 PM
Professional Contracts is great but it is a rival to a lot of also great cards like Mr Li (he is much faster at giving you the wanted card) or wyldside and to some degree Magnum opus since both take long to pay of (as any permanent eco) and if you play both you will use both less.
I think in decks that do not use massive draw accelerators and have the deckspace for draw-into-eco-cards this is a great card but there are enough deck that do not want to play it.
Wow. Some of the ratings are... really odd. I'll hold it to your advantage that you didn't seem to have a lot of time playtesting the cards, but those are the ones that popped out to me.

Kit 19/20? What's Kate then? The lost influence really hurts more than you care to admit. Kate does so much better than her, it's not even funny. She was soooo much improved by this Expansion. She even does program heavy decks better (which are the best Shaper decks right now imo) than the professor, because she installs them for a discount. Her economic advantage over the other IDs really shine in those kind of builds.

Sahasrara... think about it. Do some math. Do you have any idea how much credits this thing nets you if you get it into play early. It's not worth it in usual big rig decks, but if you run program recursion, this card can quite possibly net you 20 credits. Yeah, that's a thing that happened to me several times. It's THAT good.

Professional Contracts: To be fair, I didn't like the card when I first saw it. I would have rated it at maybe 2, so that wouldn't be too far away from Hraklea. But then, I gave it some thought. Just try running an economy built around this.
You want cards that directly convert into money (like Sure Gamble, Dirty Laundry) and cards like Daily Casts, which conserve a lot of clicks. Just try it. You'll get a far superior economic engine compared to MO. Before this card, you could achieve a very similar click/credit to MO ratio with burst economy. Burst econ requires you to draw a lot. Now think about what happens when you get a credit each time you draw.
Like I said, it is easy to undervalue this card, so I'll cut you guys some slack, but this is a straight 5/5 card. It's the best economic engine you can play right now, which doesn't involve tagging the **** out of you with Siphons.

Ok, now I've really got a bone to pick with Bad Publicity. How on earth can three people discussing card ratings, come to the conclusion that Atman is a 2/5. Like, seriously come on. Even if you just compare it to Femme: It basically does the same thing (aside from ice like Tollbooth and Data Raven), but it works for multiple ice. Now add Datasucker into the occasion. 2/5...right.

I'm fine with the other ratings though, keep up the job. Even if you are wrong in some people's eyes, it at least fuels a discussion
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KarzinomEngel
Aug 25 2013 08:31 PM
I play I CT Deck with heavy abuse of Test Run/Scavenge (plus SoT) and three Femmes, building up a high pressure on R&D (Maker's Eye and R&D Interface) while still being able to switch everything to completly destroy a high piled remote server.

Scavenge/Clone Chip are beasts.

And a Noise/ Sahasrara Deck... oh boy!

- Professional Contacts: meh, not even going to waste breath here. Build a deck, play with it. There's very few decks that this card doesn't make better (stuff running two/three Wyldsides is pretty much the only examples I can think of)

Well, if you still want to run MO/Armitage for some reason, PC is actually really bad as well.

€: ans Noise Sahasrara was only scary for the short period of time Jackson Howard didn't exist. It's still good and Noise isn't really dead, but he has to get his ass out of the bed now and actually run more than once a game.
    • Runix, MrLordcaptain and LeoLancer like this
@Scud - I don't feel Professional Contacts so overpowered. It still costs a 5 cr and there is no way to lower the cost. Still a 4 is OK. Levy AR Lab should be revised as it is now a staple 1-of in draw heavy shapers.

Self-Modifying Code is pure 20. Clone chip probably follows with 18-19.
    • Runix and Pyjam like this

€: ans Noise Sahasrara was only scary for the short period of time Jackson Howard didn't exist. It's still good and Noise isn't really dead, but he has to get his ass out of the bed now and actually run more than once a game.


I really feel all this "Noise is dead" nonsense is going a bit overboard. Noise lived just fine through Project Vitruvius, this isn't much different. He'll still get trashed from R&D a LOT.
    • geniusloci likes this
I'm surprised to see KIt get so many 5s. A good card to be sure, but the influence hurts enough to at least be a 4.

Levy AR Lab Access a 2? Really, Hraklea? It basically restarts your deck late game but lets you retain your rig. It's an extra copy of every event in your deck. Plus, 5 cards to get you going. Not to mention Invasion of Privacy coming in Opening Moves.

Ok, now I've really got a bone to pick with Bad Publicity. How on earth can three people discussing card ratings, come to the conclusion that Atman is a 2/5. Like, seriously come on. Even if you just compare it to Femme: It basically does the same thing (aside from ice like Tollbooth and Data Raven), but it works for multiple ice. Now add Datasucker into the [equation]. 2/5...right.


Agreed.

I've been playing against Cloak/Dagger recently, and it might actually be really good. Haven't seen enough of it to make a call yet, but don't discount it.

Professional Contracts: To be fair, I didn't like the card when I first saw it. I would have rated it at maybe 2, so that wouldn't be too far away from Hraklea. But then, I gave it some thought. Just try running an economy built around this.
You want cards that directly convert into money (like Sure Gamble, Dirty Laundry) and cards like Daily Casts, which conserve a lot of clicks. Just try it. You'll get a far superior economic engine compared to MO. Before this card, you could achieve a very similar click/credit to MO ratio with burst economy. Burst econ requires you to draw a lot. Now think about what happens when you get a credit each time you draw.
Like I said, it is easy to undervalue this card, so I'll cut you guys some slack, but this is a straight 5/5 card. It's the best economic engine you can play right now, which doesn't involve tagging the **** out of you with Siphons.


Agreed again. This card is way better in actual play than on paper. Proof?

Gencon Winning Decklists

I really feel all this "Noise is dead" nonsense is going a bit overboard. Noise lived just fine through Project Vitruvius, this isn't much different. He'll still get trashed from R&D a LOT.

So, you are comparing an overscored Vitruvius (which isn't easy to achieve), which leds you only retrieve one card from archives per counter and return it into your grip where it can be easily accessed again, to an asset with 0 rez cost that always shuffles 3 cards back into your R&D? No wonder you think he still works as before.
Hint: He doesn't. Noise has to run now. It still works, but worse and it takes a lot more effort. Reina Roja might actually become the best Anarch ID because of this.

€ @Leo: I was referring to Atman though. Cloak/Dagger sucks right now. Stealth might become a thing in the future, but right now it's a waste of space, especially considering Cloak is a program which costs MU. And being able to break only one sentry per turn without additional help isn't a huge bonus either.

And to be honest: Although it won at GenCon, I am actually not too thrilled by the Shaper deck.
    • kenobob likes this

€ @Leo: I was referring to Atman though. Cloak/Dagger sucks right now. Stealth might become a thing in the future, but right now it's a waste of space, especially considering Cloak is a program which costs MU. And being able to break only one sentry per turn without additional help isn't a huge bonus either.


I know you were referring to Atman. All I had to say on Atman was "agreed." The next paragraph was intended to be standalone. My bad.

Anyway, Cloak/Dagger has been giving me some trouble, but it's probably because I'm only using 5 sentries. But what to do? I'm Jinteki.

And to be honest: Although it won at GenCon, I am actually not too thrilled by the Shaper deck.


Could you elaborate? Since this would be quite off-topic, maybe in the Gencon Winning Decklist thread or the Shaper Top Tier thread. Or a new thread. Or just PM me. I'm fine whichever way.
I think some of the cards were a bit 'shaper' minded with rating. For example, Levy is awesome with Andy. She uses so many events and I found the card to be perfect with her.

I wouldn't put self modifying code at 5. Like Scud said, that 2 MU is very costly for some decks.

I know you were referring to Atman. All I had to say on Atman was "agreed." The next paragraph was intended to be standalone. My bad.

Anyway, Cloak/Dagger has been giving me some trouble, but it's probably because I'm only using 5 sentries. But what to do? I'm Jinteki.


Ah, okay. The two citations made it seem like your post was only divided by them so I got it a little mixed up.

Could you elaborate? Since this would be quite off-topic, maybe in the Gencon Winning Decklist thread or the Shaper Top Tier thread. Or a new thread. Or just PM me. I'm fine whichever way.

Check the Gencon thread.
    • LeoLancer likes this
I think the other posters actually disagree more than me with your ratings. I was mainly talking about Clone Chip, Atman, Self Modifying Code and Sahasrara being all 5s in my opinion for the sole reason that they create new tier 1 deck archetipes.
I agree with wolfone - Atman in particular has radically reshaped the game, and by that criterion alone merits a higher rating. The overall ratings for this expansion seem low, given that this expansion arguably pushed Runner into an even more dominant position than what they previously enjoyed.
I try to be a bit stingy with my 5s, to be honest. I probably should have put Self-Modifying Code at 4 and Cone Chip at 5, but, hey, what're you gonna do, they're both great cards.

@Paradox: Yeah, Professional Contacts is stupid good. I should have given it a 5, as well, but I simply thought more people would benefit from Self-Modifying Code more often and, as I said, I don't want to just hand out 5s.
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BadPublicity
Aug 26 2013 01:25 AM

Did you really play with some of the cards before reviewing them? I find myself disagreeing with almost everything.


These reviews are always done before the packs hit the shelves.
They are first impressions.

Ok, now I've really got a bone to pick with Bad Publicity. How on earth can three people discussing card ratings, come to the conclusion that Atman is a 2/5. Like, seriously come on. Even if you just compare it to Femme: It basically does the same thing (aside from ice like Tollbooth and Data Raven), but it works for multiple ice. Now add Datasucker into the occasion. 2/5...right.

I'm fine with the other ratings though, keep up the job. Even if you are wrong in some people's eyes, it at least fuels a discussion


doing the reviews as a first impression can be hard sometimes - cards perform different when you get some turns out of them. 2 of us are using atman now in our decks and I could definitely raise the rating to a 3 - I say this cause it does need to work with other cards to get the full value out of it - just putting it out there does not swing the game in your favor. It needs some TLC and some good deck and rig management to be able to see its potential.
Atman isn't a five because, by itself, it isn't amazeballs (unless the Corp is super-jazzed about its All Four-Strength ICE deck or something). It needs other cards to be a superstar and, therefore, it is subject to the vagaries of chance. It's a good card, to be sure. Great, even. But not a five.